Suit filed for Pancreatic Cancer By Use of Byetta, Januvia and Janumet

The law firm of Rheingold, Giuffra, Ruffo & Plotkin LLP has
just commenced what is believed to be the first suit in New York for the
development of pancreatic cancer in the user of three common anti-diabetic drugs:
Byetta,
Januvia and Janumet. The suit, by Staten Island resident Robert Cataletto, was filed on June
14, 2013, and it is captioned Cataletto v. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, LLC,
et al., E.D.N.Y. 13-cv-3411.

Mr. Cataletto received prescriptions from the doctor attending to his adult
diabetes condition in the period from 2009 to 2012 for Byetta, Januvia
and Janumet. Byetta, manufactured by Merck, Inc., has been on the market
since 2005 and is known as a glucagen-like peptide. It treats diabetes
by preventing a build-up of sugar in the body.

Januvia is made by Amylin Pharmaceuticals LLC, a company recently bought
by Bristol Myers Squibb Co. First marketed in 2007, it is in the category
of a dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 drug, which also reduces blood glucose levels.
When combined with an older drug, metformin, the drug is known as Janumet.
The broader category for the drugs involved in this law suit is known
as "incretins."

The complaint which was just filed alleges that the manufacturers of these
products were alerted starting in 2010 that there was an increased incidence
of pancreatic cancer in users of these drugs as compared to diabetics
treated with the older, more proven forms of treatment. The notice also
came from the German Medical Association and a petition by Public Citizen,
a non-profit health group in Washington.

There have been similar reports of a sharp increase in pancreatitis-inflammation
of the pancreas gland-in users of these same drugs. The complaint alleges
that pancreatitis may be a forerunner of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic
cancer is among the deadliest of all cancers, for which there are no satisfactory
treatments.

The complaint charges that the defendants were aware of the serious health
risks associated with the use of these drugs and concealed them from the
public, prescribing doctors and governmental regulatory bodies. It not
only seeks damages for the pain and suffering and economic loss sustained
by the Cataletto family but also punitive or punishment damages based
on "disregard for human life."

"From our examination of the data, it appears to us that there has
been over promotion and under warning by the sellers of these and other
drugs in the incretin category," says Paul D. Rheingold, senior partner
in the law firm. The firm specializes in representing persons injured
by drugs and medical devices. It is currently heavily involved with litigation
involving metal-on-metal hips made by Biomet, DePuy, Stryker and Wright
Medical, all of which have genotoxic galvanic reactions known to be carcinogenic.

Attention is also being directed now to other drugs in the incretin category,
including Victorza and Onglyza. The manufacturers of all of these drugs
announced in mid-June that they would cooperate with the Food and Drug
Administration and the American Diabetes Association in studying the potential
link between use of incretins and the development of pancreatic cancer.

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case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
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